Brian M. Givens, former vice president of entertainment/talent relations at the Murphy Arts District, has dropped a civil suit he filed last month against El Dorado Festivals and Events, Inc.
In court documents filed last week, Givens’ attorney moved to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning Givens is able to re-file the case at a later date.
Givens’ lawyer, David Price, said the suit was dropped because they plan on filing a wrongful termination suit in federal court instead.
"The cellphone number is a now a non-issue," Price said, without elaborating.
Givens’s suit against EFEI alleged that they took his personal property in the form of his cellphone number when he was terminated from employment in September. Givens was terminated after an arrest for public intoxication on Sept. 14. He was alleged to have stolen a taxi from the owner of El Dorado Taxi, which he then allegedly hit the taxi owner with.
He was later re-arrested on the additional charges of second-degree battery, leaving the scene of an accident with injury, theft of property and robbery.
In Givens’ original filing, he requested a temporary restraining order along with a permanent injunction which would require EFEI to return his cellphone number immediately.
He claimed that upon leaving rehab, which he entered after his initial arrest, he discovered his cellphone number had been deactivated by MAD. He alleged that they had since withheld use of the phone number from him, which was causing him irreparable harm since his business contacts knew him by that phone number, and, without it, he was being deprived of the ability to make a living.
At the time of the initial filing, an EFEI spokesperson released a prepared statement in response.
“El Dorado Festivals and Events categorically denies and rejects the allegation and numerous misstatements in Mr. Givens’ filing. We look forward to the opportunity to present the facts of this matter in the appropriate forum,” the spokesperson said.
In November, counsel for EFEI filed a brief, which argued that Givens did not, in fact, own the cellphone number, as he had transferred his cell service to EFEI’s Verizon account when he began his employment with them, and they had paid for all services connected with the number since that time.
The brief also argued that Givens still has access to the contacts stored on his cellphone and that the only inconvenience he would face in changing his number would be having to notify his contacts.
Bob Tarren, chief marketing officer of MAD, said Tuesday that he could not comment on personnel matters.
Caitlan Butler can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].